Giant squid live in the deep sea. The deep sea is dark and cold. Giant squid live in oceans all around the world. Scientists are not sure how deep they live. Catches by fishing trawlers suggest a depth range of about 300 meters to 1 kilometer.

Many animals in the deep sea can make their own light. This is called bioluminescence. A living animal makes it. Scientists used a lure that copies a glowing jellyfish to bring a squid close. It is called an e-jelly. The cameras use lights that the squid cannot see.

In December 2006, a Japanese team filmed a giant squid at the surface off the Ogasawara Islands. The team leader said it was the first time anyone had filmed a live one. Before that, on September 30, 2004, a camera on a bait line off the same islands photographed a live giant squid in the deep ocean.

In July 2012, a team filmed a live giant squid in its deep-sea home off Japan, from a small submersible. In June 2019, scientists filmed a giant squid in the Gulf of Mexico. It was the first one recorded in United States waters. It was about 100 miles southeast of New Orleans, and about 10 to 12 feet long. The same Medusa camera system had filmed a giant squid off Japan in 2012, before it filmed the one in the Gulf of Mexico in 2019.

How big can one get? Guinness World Records says a giant squid can reach at least 13 metres in length, most of it tentacles. National Geographic says the largest verifiable giant squid was 12 metres long. As of November 2026, those are the numbers these two sources give.

Inside its beak, a giant squid has a tooth-covered tongue called a radula. It uses the radula to shred its prey into small pieces. A giant squid eats fish that live in the deep sea.

One study suggests that giant squid reach their adult size within about three years. A female makes a huge number of tiny, whitish eggs.

Words to know

• bioluminescence: living light
• lure: fake bait
• radula: toothed tongue
• submersible: small sea vehicle